


I'll Be Here to Take the Fall

by sleuthlaw



Series: Naramis Week 2020 [1]
Category: Soul Eater, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Naramis Week 2020, Nonbinary Narancia Ghirga, Other, a self indulgent soul eater au, dude used as a term of endearment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25529179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleuthlaw/pseuds/sleuthlaw
Summary: " He always accounted his fondness for the other to this. Whenever it shifted to something more romantic in nature was unknown to him.It was a Saturday afternoon during the fall when he finally realized Oh, I have a crush on my weapon. "Mista and Narancia are a meister weapon pair. Mista's been hiding his feelings in fear of breaking their partnership, but he gains a whole new thing to worry about when their wavelengths appear to become incompatible.Naramis Week Day 1: AU
Relationships: Narancia Ghirga/Guido Mista, Pannacotta Fugo & Guido Mista
Series: Naramis Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849711
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	I'll Be Here to Take the Fall

**Author's Note:**

> happy naramis week everyone :) I'm so excited to see what everyone makes this week.
> 
> Soul Eater is probably my favorite anime and I've been brainstorming an AU for it for awhile. This fic is so self indulgent its crazy because I can think of maybe three other people who still talk about Soul Eater anymore. I hope y'all enjoy!
> 
> (Narancia uses they/them pronouns in this fic)

Mista couldn’t really put a time stamp on when his feelings for Narancia started. The two had always been close, having clicked almost immediately after becoming partners. 

Mista got along with pretty much anyone, making him a high potential meister due to his flexible soul wavelength and ability to match up with just about anybody. He had worked with a few other weapons in the past, but he hadn’t matched with any of them nearly as well as he had with Narancia. Maybe it was because Mista didn’t have to do any adjusting with Narancia. There was nothing to adapt to, no change in his personality or thinking he had to take on to make the soul compatibility work. He and Narancia paired well without his wavelength flexibility factoring in, which made him feel like this was a true match and no other weapon was quite right for him.

He always accounted his fondness for the other to this. Whenever it shifted to something more romantic in nature was unknown to him. 

It was a Saturday afternoon during the fall when he finally realized  _ Oh, I have a crush on my weapon _ . The two had just returned from a mission, being completely exhausted afterwards and immediately crashing on Mista’s couch when they got home. After just chilling for about half an hour, Mista had asked if the other wanted to order dinner only to find that Narancia had fallen asleep. He shoved the other’s shoulder, making them groan and stretch before looking over to Mista.

“Why’re you waking me?” they asked with a yawn. 

“Do you want pizza?” he asked. 

“Duh ‘m always down for pizza.” They rolled onto their side. “Can’t believe you woke me up to ask.”

“Peppers and olives?” Narancia nodded and gave a thumbs up before closing their eyes and falling back to sleep. Mista scoffed as he pulled out his phone to place an order. Honestly, he probably should be the one that’s tired since he was the one running around during most of the fight. 

He let them sleep though. They looked content taking their nap, and he didn’t want to disturb that. If he could do anything to keep Narancia happy or content, he’d do it. It put him at ease to know his partner was comfortable.

They were also pretty cute while they were napping. 

It was after he placed the order that he realized maybe he didn’t mean that in the most platonic sense. He dropped his phone on his chest and stared up at the ceiling of his living room, shocked at the realization. Yeah, he and Narancia were close. Yeah, he would practically do anything to make them happy. Yeah, their smile was contagious and made him giddy no matter what his mood. 

Yeah he definitely didn’t mean those platonically. 

God he was so dumb. He placed his hands on his face and groaned. 

Because this was not an easy realization to come to. Narancia was the best weapon partner he ever had, and the  _ only  _ one he wanted if he was honest. He liked that he didn’t have to adjust his wavelength to fit the other. He liked feeling that Narancia and his partnership relied on both being themselves without having to change. Feelings made this complicated. He knew a handful of partnerships that fell apart due to unrequited feelings being involved. 

In no way did Mista want to be the reason that he lost this. He could deal with keeping it to himself in order to maintain their partnership.

* * *

The mission could’ve gone a lot worse in Mista’s opinion. The two of them could be dead. That was definitely the worst thing that could happen. 

Narancia was obviously in a bad mood. And Mista could understand why. Never before in their partnership had they become incompatible to the point where Mista couldn’t wield the other. But right before Mista managed to get the final shot into the kishin egg the two were chasing, a shock to his palm caused him to drop Narancia to the ground. 

He managed to focus back on the task at hand, picking them back up and getting the final shot in. But it still happened. 

“So what the fuck was that?” Narancia asked after consuming the enemy soul. They weren’t mad right now, despite how aggressive they seemed. Exaggerated emotions were normal for Narancia. Mista has grown used to reading through what Narancia’s outburst  _ really  _ meant. Right now they were scared and uncomfortable with the current situation. 

He hated that he made them feel like that. He didn’t know if their momentary break in compatibility was his fault, but he felt he should be able to prevent it. It was his job as the Meister to adapt in battle and keep a focus on maintaining stable wavelengths during it. 

It was just odd because this was a problem he  _ never  _ encountered since he and Narancia had paired up. 

“I have no idea dude,” he answered. “Maybe I lost focus and let my wavelength get out of sync.”

“Why would that happen?”

“Maybe I’m just getting too comfortable on missions.” He couldn’t really determine what Narancia’s expression meant upon hearing that. “It’ll probably just be a one time thing, dude.”

Narancia sighed, a smile replacing the tense frown from earlier. “If you say so.”

“You say that like you don’t trust me.”

“You’re dumb as bricks, of course I don’t trust you.”

“Oh that’s  _ rich  _ coming from you.”

“I’m not the one who thought putting aluminum in the toaster would make pop tarts heat up better.”

“A man tries to be innovative one time in his life, and his best friend doesn’t let him live it down.” 

Narancia laughed at that, loud and genuine and proof that whatever unease they felt before was gone for now.

* * *

Mista flinched as a jolt of pain ran up his arm, breaking his own resonance with Narancia and the links made with Trish and Sheila. 

“Alright. I think that’s enough tries for today,” Avdol announced. “We’ll try again in class again in three days.”

The revolver in his hand turned into a blinding light before Narancia shifted back. Their hands were shoved into their jacket pocket, and they didn’t look up as they began to head back towards the school building. The rest of the group looked after them, then to Mista with confusion. Trish looked as though she had been ready to discuss what had happened during the session before they left. Fugo glanced after them with a look of concern. 

“I’ll go check on them,” Mista told the group before rushing after Narancia. He caught up with his partner, walking by their side on the way back to the school. 

This had been the first time during a Link Resonance practice this had happened. Unfortunately, this hadn’t been the first time since that initial incident a few weeks prior. They had run into multiple occasions since then where their wavelength sync was cut off. What was once considered a fluke was slowly becoming an issue. 

They were pissed. There was no mistaking it for any other kind of reaction right now. They were frustrated and angry. 

“Are you good?” Mista asked. They stopped mid step and turned to face him. 

“No, I’m not fucking good. The two of us are supposed to be the link for our group to work out but you and I can’t even keep resonance to make it work!” 

He flinched at Narancia’s raised voice. “Dude, it’s okay, maybe I just slipped up again.”

“You haven’t slipped up. I can tell whenever we’re working you’re entirely focused. You’re not the reason we’re fucking up. So there’s only one person who it could be.” 

He noticed a gleam in their eyes. They were on the verge of tears.

“Narancia—” 

“No, don’t fucking talk to me like you pity me for this! I’m the reason this whole group is being held back from what we need to do, and pity isn’t going to help us master this. Especially from you, it’s  _ worse  _ if it’s you.”

“Dude, I don’t—”

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. Just leave me alone.”

They stormed off towards the school. Mista let them go, knowing that going after them right now would just lead to them getting more upset. He could only watch as Narancia left, feeling dread pull at his chest. 

* * *

The classroom was fairly empty and relatively quiet, with class not starting for another fifteen minutes or so and not even the present. The quiet made Mista uneasy though. It seemed to emphasize his partner’s absence. Made the empty lecture hall seat next to him feel cold. 

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. He was overthinking things. Probably. Who knows. 

No he wasn’t. There was definitely an issue between him and Narancia right now and it was  _ definitely  _ his fault. 

“Are you going to be sighing like that all class?” Fugo asked bitterly from behind him, not looking up from his book. “If so, it’s going to get annoying fast.”

“We put up with your moody ass every day and never say anything,” Mista countered. 

“Just finish moping by the time the class actually starts.” Fugo looked up from his book, glancing from Mista to the empty seat next to him. “Are they skipping again?”

The heavy pit of dread returned to his chest. He really hoped people wouldn’t bring it up, but he knew it was unlikely. “Probably.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yup.”

_ No, it definitely isn’t _ , Mista thought.

He felt that Fugo was about to press him more on the topic, but luckily Giorno and Trish finally arrived and took their seats, putting an end to Fugo’s interrogation for now. Fugo wasn’t dumb -- far from it actually. The fact he was probably the closest to Narancia other than Mista didn’t help either. But Trish greeting him with a story about how her hairdryer decided to crap out on her that morning effectively distracted the group from Narancia’s absence for now. 

Narancia never showed.

* * *

Fugo had found him at the usual place he tended to hang out at during lunch period — out on the steps to the school, hidden just in the shade of the building's decor where it was cool. He took a seat next to Mista, in the spot Narancia usually sat. 

“Something happened after the Link Resonance practice yesterday, didn’t it?” Fugo asked. Mista groaned, slouching onto the floor. He glanced over to see Fugo looking down at him with a neutral expression. Mista knew him well enough to know Fugo was concerned though. Despite the many injuries both he and Narancia had sustained due to their friend’s outbursts of anger, they were both well aware how much Fugo actually cared about them.

“Do you know anything about what could cause problems in soul wavelengths no longer resonating correctly?” Mista answered in the form of a question. 

“Sure. Most often it’s caused by individuals changing so much that their soul wavelengths weren’t the same as they were initially when the partnership started,” Fugo answered. “The other most common reason is tension between the partners causing them to view each other or how they’re perceived by each other, making their wavelengths lose their sync.”

Mista nodded, thinking on Fugo’s answer for a few minutes. No, he didn’t  _ feel  _ any of that seemed to fit the situation. After all, any tension in the partnership started  _ after  _ that first initial time their wavelengths lost sync. “Do you know of any others?”

“Yeah. Those cases aren’t common problems for individuals who have a flexible wavelength and a good control over it.” Fugo hummed in thought. “It’s not  _ as  _ common, but sometimes an individual could be unconsciously holding themselves back from a successful sync.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Sometimes a partner may have a part of them that they aren’t willing to give up in a way that prevents them from resonating,” Fugo explained. “It could be that an argument happened and someone isn’t willing to compromise. Or one member is actively trying to hide something from the other. The person themselves may want to go through with resonating, but their desire to hold something from their partner causes a shift in their wavelength that prevents it.”

Mista sat on that one for a while.

“So if I had something that I’ve been hiding from Nara for a while because I was afraid it would affect our partnership, that could have made me lose my ability to sync souls with them?” he asked.

“...yeah, that could do it. Even your wavelength’s flexibility wouldn’t help when your soul is actively trying to hide something from them.”

Mista groaned, running his hands down his face. Of course his crush would be causing the problems. What did he do for this kind of bad luck to happen to him? He tried to think of any situations recently that would have invoked the usual deliverance of bad luck. He couldn’t come up with one.

Now wasn’t the time to ponder on what caused his luck. 

(Not now, at least.) 

No, now he had to face that  _ he  _ was the problem for everything right now. Narancia’s frustrated, angry expression from the day before was stuck in his head when he realized that. His weapon had been blaming themself for the resonance issues when in reality it was all his fault for not wanting to be honest about his feelings.

Which sucked even more because he was scared of what could happen to their resonance if he  _ was  _ honest. 

“I’m guessing that’s the one then,” Fugo said.

“Yeah.” Mista sat up, adjusting his beanie back into place. At this point, their sync could be permanently broken whether Mista told Narancia or not. 

But at least telling them would give them the assurance that they weren’t at fault. 

Yeah, he was going to have to confess to Narancia he liked them. A knot of nerves built up in him within seconds at that realization. 

“Thanks for the answers,” he said as he stood up, stretching momentarily. 

“Do you need to talk about what’s up?” Fugo asked.

“...no. I think Narancia deserves to be the first person I talk about it with, yknow?” 

Fugo nodded. “I suppose. I’m glad I could help.”

“I probably won’t be returning to class. Don’t say anything.”

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t give enough of a shit to tattle to the teachers.”

Mista gave Fugo a thumbs up and a grin before running off to find Narancia. 

* * *

Finding Narancia wasn’t too hard. They had a few favorite places they liked to go when they skipped class. There was the balcony near the front of the school, the wall’s ledge by the school grounds, or the coffee shop that was a few blocks from their apartment. He was lucky that his partner was at the second place he checked, sitting with their legs crossed on the wall and looking out over the city. They glanced over at him when he took a seat next to him, removing their headphones. Their posture was tense, though. Their expression was neutral. They were still obviously upset, though faring better than they were when they blew up yesterday. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” they said, tucking their headphones into their jacket pocket.

“You don’t need to apologize. Actually, I know what's wrong. I’ve been the reason our compatibility has been off,” Mista said. He folded his hands in his lap. “I’ve, ah, been hiding something from you. And apparently that’s been making me unconsciously break our link. So, this has all been me.” 

Narancia’s shoulders dropped, the tension in their posture leaving. “Why’d you feel the need to hide something?” 

“Cause you’re my best bro and I didn’t want to make things weird.”

“Dude I really doubt after everything we’ve been through that you could make anything  _ weird _ .” 

“Nah, pretty sure this one could make things weird.”

“Are you gonna tell me?”

Mista ran a hand through his hair with a sigh before facing Narancia. He wished that they looked mad at him. They probably had the right to with all the issues he had unintentionally caused. But instead they just looked confused and worried. And he felt  _ awful  _ that he was the reason for it. 

Fuck feeling embarrassed about saying something. Even if he made a fool of himself, he’d rather give Narancia some clarity and make them feel better. 

“I  _ like  _ you.” He practically blurted it out. It came out sounding borderline like a pathetic wine. Narancia looked shocked, not initially responding. “See? Makes things weird.”

“You’re serious?”

“I’m so fucking serious I may throw up.”

“Dude that’s disgusting.”

“Dude I  _ know _ .” Narancia laughed, leaning back and cackling with a delighted look on their face. “Listen I know I looked absolutely stupid saying that but it doesn’t mean you have to laugh about it.”

“No, that’s not it.” Narancia ran a hand over their face, their grin still wide. “Dude I  _ like  _ you too.”

And now it was Mista’s turn to be shocked. “Serious?”

“Yeah, deadass.” 

“Dude.”

“Yeah.”

“Why the  _ hell  _ didn’t you say anything?”

“I just thought you saw me as a friend so…” Narancia shrugged with another laugh, this one lighter and more nervous. “I just didn’t say anything. Figured I’d tell you eventually. What about you?”

“I was scared it would’ve fucked up our partnership. So I just didn’t want to say anything.”

“And you almost did anyway.”

“I know right?” Mista chuckled. “...I’m sorry for that.”

“Dude, dont—“

“No, don’t ‘dude’ me in that tone. You felt like shit because of a problem I caused. You’re like… the  _ only  _ weapon that I’ve ever been happy and comfortable working with. And I made you second guess that. So I’m sorry.”

Narancia buried their face in their hands. “That’s so  _ sappy  _ Mista.”

“I know. The embarrassment will keep me awake some night three years from now. But like I had to tell you, dude.”

“Dude you’re too much. Dude I’m gonna explode. Dude can I kiss you?”

“Bro, what if we kissed on the school wall, and you were my weapon?”

“Actually never mind, I’m gonna push you off the wall now.”

Narancia didn’t end up pushing him off the wall. 

Narancia did end up giving him that kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> "My innards turn, your eyes, they roll, I’ll be here to take the fall/ I can feel it now, oh no" --Cardiac Arrest, Bad Suns 
> 
> Thank's for reading!! I hope you enjoyed : ) 
> 
> Find me on tumblr @transguidomista and on twitter @sleuthlaw


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